Clemson Men’s Lacrosse wraps up 8-1 Fall Season

 2012 Captains elected

 FALL WRAP UP:

The Clemson Men’s Lacrosse team concluded an 8-1 fall season with a 5-0 run through the field at the 5^th Annual Southern Comfort “SOCO” Tournament the weekend of November 5-6, 2012. This marks the 2^nd consecutive year the Tigers have gone undefeated at SOCO. 

Clemson defeatedWoffordCollegeandGeorgiaStateto open the fall season in September. The Tigers’ next competition was hosted by new NCAA DIII program, Piedmont College in Demorest, GA where Clemson faced conference rival Georgia and Piedmont. UGA handed the Tigers their only setback of the fall, 7-6, jumping out to an early 4-1 lead and then holding off a Clemson rally. The Tigers got back on the winning track with a 10-4 win over host Piedmont. 

For SOCO, Clemson welcomed South Carolina, SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design), North Carolina club, Kennesaw State, and the College of Charleston to Nettles Park in Clemson. In keeping with tradition, high school games alternated with the college contests. Five high school teams competed, 3 from the upstate of South Carolina, Team Farragut from Knoxville, TN, and the St Francis Xavier Lacrosse Academy from Edmonton, Canada. St Francis was inGreenvillefor 5 days, practicing and competing with local club high school teams and enjoying a clinic sponsored by STX and Ryan Flanagan, former UNC All American and ACC Defenseman of the Year.

Clemson opened the tournament with theCollegeofCharlestonand a 9-1 win, followed by an 11-5 win over 2011 SELC DII Champion SCAD. Saturday’s action concluded with an anticipated match-up against the Gamecocks of South Carolina. Clemson and USC had played a double overtime thriller during the 2011 spring season that saw the Tigers come out on top 8-7. As always when USC and Clemson hook up, there’s a lot at stake.

The Tigers got out to a 2-0 lead early but USC came roaring back to take and stretch the lead to 5-2 midway through the 3^rd period. An ill-advised penalty gave the Tigers a 2 man advantage and Clemson capatalized to narrow the gap to 5-3. From there on out, it was all Clemson as the Tigers shut out the Gamecocks and rallied for a 7-5 victory. 

Sunday saw the Tigers open up against Kennesaw State (GA) and come away with an 11-2 win. The final game of the tournament saw the Tigers hold off the UNC team, 9-8 after pulling away to a 9-3 lead midway through the 3^rd period. 

Beyond the field, of particular note was the strong representation of Clemson parents and family at the event. 28 players’ families were in attendance, manning hospitality, concession, and merchandise tables and enjoying the 2012 edition of Clemson Men’s Lacrosse. Evening social opportunities on Friday and Saturday nights gave veteran players’ parents the opportunity to reconnect and to meet and welcome the parents of our new players. The Clemson LAX family is growing and the team is extremely grateful for all the time, effort, and resources the parents have dedicated to the program. The new Clemson Lacrosse Scoreboard made its debut at SOCO as a testimony to the generous support the team receives from our parents and families. SOCO also saw the debut of the NYFD commemorative edition shooter shirts provided by Jim McLoughlin and worn with special pride by the 2011 Tigers. 

TEAM CAPTAINS:

On Tuesday, November 15, 2011 the team convened to prepare for the spring season and wrap up fall ball.Jerseynumbers were selected (no 3 digit numbers for spring!), dues discussed, and co-captains were elected.

 Team co-captains for 2012 will be seniors Will Patch, Jon Kilbourne, and James McLoughlin.  

Patch, an MCLA Honorable All American attackman served as a co-captain in 2011 and led the team in scoring with 72 points on 41 goals and 31 assists. His 4.8 pts per game average ranked him 14^th in the country. He also received All SELC and All Tournament recognition. 

Kilbourne enjoyed a breakout year in 2011 from the midfield position, racking up 26 goals and 12 assists to lead the Tiger middies with 38 points and a 2.53 point per game average. He received All SELC and All Tournament recognition as well.  

McLoughlin, a transfer in 2011 from Nassau Community College on Long Island, NY tallied 29 points on 20 goals and 9 assists in 7 games in 2011 (4.143 pt average, good for 33^rd in the country) before tearing his ACL in practice, sidelining him for the balance of the season. James has continued his rehabilitation through the fall and will be ready to go when the spring season opens. 

Team officers for 2012 will be junior President Andrew Paradise, junior Vice President Kyle Matusek, senior Secretary Will Thiede, sophomore Treasurer Kyle Stinchcomb, and junior Social Chair Tom White.

 COACHES’ OUTLOOK:

Entering fall ball, one of the priorities for this edition of Clemson lacrosse was to establish a new defense. Given the graduation of goalies Brett Becker and Ian Thompson and starting poles Justin Hurley and Dan Blackburn, there’s a scarcity of experience at that end of the field heading into 2012. That will be compounded by the loss of Brian Murphy and Matt McMillan who will be co-oping this spring and not able to play.

 Coach Mike French and new assistant Andy Campbell put a lot of focus on the defense this fall and big strides were made. You have to feel pretty good about allowing no more than 8 goals in any game in a 9 game fall season and in only two of those games did the team allow more than 5. We know the work is not done by any means but we feel a solid foundation was laid this fall. 

We got solid goalie play from all 4 of our keepers, junior Andrew Speer, Sophomores Demetrius Murray and Alex Branton, and freshman Zach Upton. Each had their moments, good and bad but the good outweighed the bad. Probably the most notable thing from fall is that no one goalie separated themselves from the others enough to be inked in as the starter. That competition will continue and intensify this spring and may well come down to whoever is more successful in getting the defense to play together. 

Defensively, we spent a lot of time working on a zone defense to complement our man to man and we were seeing results as the season progressed. This also benefitted our offense as they had to work against a zone a lot more than they have in the past and we expect that experience to pay dividends this spring. Competition for playing time this spring will be intense as juniors Mike Corey, Mike Schwartz, and Kyle Matusek (a “transfer” from attack/face-off), sophomores Harry Luttrell, Kyle Stinchcomb, and Daniel Conner put in solid efforts as did new faces Matt Hogue, Kevin Faroli, Bill Royston, Beau Horner, and Andrew Carek. Our depth will improve come spring with the return of senior Bob Leitholf and junior Tom White. 

The key will be the chemistry that will develop as the coaches have stressed the concept of team defense and “got your back.” Another thing to be sorted out is who will run at close and who will join Andrew Paradise at LSM come spring. There’s a lot to be done and sorted out but thankfully, there’s a lot to work with as well. 

It is at the midfield that the new Tigers are likely to have the biggest impact. We have been blessed with an exceptional class of middies this year and will go into spring 2012 with more depth and quality than ever before. We return a very solid core with players like Jon Kilbourne, Ryan Conlon, Will Thiede, Brian Livingston, Dan Huettenmoser, Dan Imperiale, Joe Brandt, Connor Haile, Trey Shervin, and Mike Maher; a group any coach would be comfortable with but these guys will be pushed hard by new comers Paul Dancy, Steve Dybus, Lex Smit, Steve Smith, Charlie Pontiakos, Brian Chase, and Ben Myers as well as Myles Loadholt and Daniel Lentz. Of particular note was the face-off play of Pontiakos which at time verged on dominance of the opposition. We expect the competition to be fierce come spring and see the depth and balance of this group as one of the strengths of the 2012 team.

 Contrary to the defensive end, the Tiger offense features a lot of familiar faces with 2011 contributors Patch, plus 2^nd leading scorer and All SELC and All Tournament senior Chris Buechele, McLaughlin, Tom Reddish, TJ Ahearn, Mike “Hammer”  DiRocco back as well as the return of 2010 starter William Fochtmann. In effect, we return just about 110% of our offense which may sound kind of strange but Fochtmann’s return brings back more points than we lost to graduation. Adding to the potential and the threat are some impressive new players such as JP Brennan, Alex Janeck, Greg Yingling, Matt Johnson, and Doug Winkowski.

Safe to say, from endline to endline, the Tigers have talent. What we have to recognize is that the same can be said about just about every team we play. The difference will be how well that talent complements one another. Individual talent will not win championships; it is the combination of talented individuals into a team that puts that one team ahead of the others. I think this is one of those cases where the whole will actually be greater than the sum of its parts. 

Clemson lacrosse was honored to be the “cover child” of MCLA the magazine this November and to have received a lot of positive press in the ensuing article. I think the article was well titled as to whether we are ready to take the next step, both within the conference and on the national level. The timing couldn’t be more auspicious, given the talent and experience we can put on the field and the fact that the 2012 and 2013 MCLA National Championships will be contested right in our backyard in Greenville. Where better to have a home field advantage than at a National Championship? It’s too wonderful an opportunity to let slip away.

If the Tigers are fortunate to get there, we will have certainly earned our way. The 2012 regular schedule is by far the most challenging Clemson has ever played, in terms of both quantity and quality. The Tigers face 22 games which doesn’t give us much time for a breather (so much for the idea of a football-like bye weekend). Besides a tough SELC schedule with teams such as our 2011 nemesis Florida State, Virginia Tech, Georgia, South Carolina, Central Florida, SCAD, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, etc., we will face a rugged out of conference slate including long time rival SUNY-Buffalo as well as Texas A&M, Missouri, Boston College, Miami of Ohio, New Hampshire, Colorado, and Nebraska. (Who was it who said that lacrosse is not a national sport?)  Another first for the team will be flying toColoradoin March to face the Buffs, UNH (kind of strange to go toColoradoto playNew Hampshire, I know), and the Cornhuskers. 

Safe to say the Tigers will be tested and that depth we spoke of earlier will be a critical aspect of our success. My sense is that we will need to put a lot of battle-tested bodies on the field to get through this schedule and contend in the post-season. I’ve got the feeling that this team will embrace this challenge, recognizing how rare this kind of chance is, and will give it their best shot. 

Thank you for all the support you all provided all fall and we look forward to an exciting and dramatic spring and hope you all are along for the ride.

 GO TIGERS!  

Best to everyone for the holidays, (feed them well but make them get out and run, and run, and run!) 

Buff, Mike, and Andy

http://412.laxallstars.com/georgia-clemson-piedmont-photo-gallery/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Clemson Men’s Lacrosse to host 5^th Annual Southern Comfort Fall Lacrosse Tournament November 5-6, 2011 

Clemson, SC:  The Clemson’s Men’s Lacrosse Team will welcome 5 collegiate teams and 6 high school teams to Nettles Park in Clemson for two days of competition commencing on Saturday, November 5^th at 9:00 am. 

Participating collegiate teams will include the University of South Carolina, University of North Carolina, Savannah College of Art & Design, College of Charleston, Kennesaw State as well as Clemson. 

The high school field will consist of a number of upstate based programs such as Tomahawk and Upstate Lacrosse as well as programs from the Low Country and the Farragut Program from Knoxville, TN. 

Highlighting the high school side of the event will be the presence on Saturday of the St. Francis Xavier Lacrosse Academy from Edmonton, Canada. The Canadian team will arrive in Greenville mid week and participate in practices with several high school programs before competing in the tournament. 

“We’re both excited and honored that St. Francis Xavier decided to come to Greenville this year,” states Clemson head coach Buff Grubb. “It should be an educational experience for everyone involved and their presence speaks to both the growth of the game of lacrosse and to the emergence of lacrosse in the state of South Carolina.” 

“My sense is that their interest in our area was enhanced by the fact that Greenville will host the 2012 Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) national championships next May. People in the lacrosse world are starting to take note of how lacrosse has taken hold in South Carolina.” 

Speaking to the collegiate field, Grubb states “We’re very pleased with the line-up of this year’s field. Our goal with the “SOCO tourney” is to wrap up our fall season with the opportunity for our players to experience serious competition in preparation for the 2012 spring season. This field fulfills that goal very well.” 

Clemson finished the 2011 season with a 14-2 record and a national MCLA ranking of 15^th in the country. Included in that record was a classic 8-7 double overtime win over South Carolina. “You can rest assured that both our kids and theirs will not be approaching this game as if it’s a preseason game. Whenever these two schools get together, there’s something big at stake”, says Grubb. The Tigers and Gamecocks are scheduled to face-off mid-afternoon on Saturday the 5^th. 

“USC is not the only competition we face this weekend. UNC is a strong team and one we don’t normally see as they are not eligible for MCLA membership. SCAD and Kennesaw State are top tier teams in MCLA’s DII. Charleston is a relatively new program but is rapidly becoming established. This weekend will not be a walk in the park for us, but that’s what we wanted and needed to get us ready for spring 2012.” 

College and high school games will alternate beginning at 9 am on Saturday the 5^th, with each team playing 3 games on Saturday. Play will resume on Sunday at 9:30 am and conclude with 2 additional games for each squad. 

For more information and directions to Nettles Park, visit the team website at www.laxteams.net/clemson or contact Clemson Men’s Lacrosse Head Coach Buff Grubb at bgrubb15@gmail.com.

Put it on your calendar now! MCLA Championship Lacrosse comes to Greenville, SC for May 2012 and 2013! Let's all support Clemson Tiger LAX in hopes they will be representing the SELC at the championships!

The Clemson Men's Lacrosse Team has released their Spring 2012 schedule. 22 regular season games have been tentatively scheduled, with several games slated to be played in Greenville, SC, site of the 2012 and 2013 MCLA Championships.

9/2/11 http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_men/club/2010-11/news/090211_midsummer_nights_power_ranking_mcla_div_i

POST 2011 SEASON NEWS: Clemson Men’s Lacrosse Players receive Post-Season Honors 

Clemson, SC:  The 14-2 Clemson Men’s Lacrosse team placed 7 players on the SELC (SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference) All Conference Team and 5 on the SELC All Tournament Team, including Tournament Offensive MVP.

 Sophomore Ryan Conlon (the Woodlands, TX/Woodlands College Park) was honored as a 1^st team All Conference selection at midfield. Conlon finished 3^rd on the team in assists with 26, placing also him 3^rdnationally for midfielders. Conlon added 7 goals to produce a total of 33 points for the season, a 2.06 points per game average.

 Junior Brian Murphy (Bel Air, MD/CM Wright) received 2^nd team honors at defense for the Tigers. Murphy, a high school All American, repeated on the conference 2^nd team, and led the team in takeaways. He also scored a decisive goal in the conference semi-finals against rival Virginia Tech, part of a 10-8 Tiger victory. 

Attack-mates Will Patch (Potomac, MD/Landon) and Chris Buechele (Charleston, SC/Wando) were honored as 2^nd team attackmen. Patch led the team in scoring with 72 points on 41 goals and 31 assists while Buechele was close behind with 64 points on 34 goals and 30 assists. Patch and Buechele were also elected as co-Captains of the 2011 Tiger team.

 Senior goal keepers Brett Becker (Sparta, NJ/Sparta) and Ian Thompson (Medfield, MA/Medfield) were recognized as Honorable Mention All Conference, unusual for two goalies on the same team to be so recognized. The two seniors basically split time throughout their careers at Clemson. Both were ranked nationally throughout the season with Thompson finished 2^nd in the country in goals against average and Becker 18^th. 

Junior Jon Kilbourne (Burke, VA/Robinson Secondary) was honored at midfield as an Honorable Mention All Conference selection. Kilbourne led the Tiger midfielders in goals in points (38) and goals (26) and was second in assists with 12.

 Attackmen Patch and Buechele and midfielder Kilbourne were joined on the 2011 SELC All Tournament team by senior defenseman Justin Hurley (Great Falls, VA/ Langley), and sophomore long-stick midfielder Andrew Paradise (Scituate, MA/Xaverian Brothers).  Attackman Patch was honored as Offensive Most Valuable Player for the tournament, scoring 15 points (7 goals, 8 assists) in 3 games.

 Patch has also been honored as a MCLA (Mens Collegiate Lacrosse Association) Honorable Mention All American at the attack position. His selection was announced at the MCLA National Championships in Denver, CO, on Championship Saturday, May 21, 2011.